Date Night at the Library -- Gangster Style

Libraries are a great source of entertainment and they don't just have books and movies to check out. They offer countless programs. As you know I am a library groupie and love going to library programs. Because Mother Nature has forgotten that it is April in Wisconsin, what better way to spend a night with the hubby than at the library... well okay for you non-dork people I am sure you can come up with plenty. But for us library groupies and dorks, the library can be a great source of entertainment especially when the topic is gangsters (or torpedoed WWII ships... not sure why the hubby wanted to skip that one).

The Kimberly-Little Chute library had Chad Lewis present a program on Wisconsin's Gangster History. I knew Capone and his friends hid up in the Northwoods... that Oshkosh was used in filming Public Enemies about the Dillingers... that Little Bohemia had something to do with gangster maybe. However, I knew there was probably more to Wisconsin gangster history than just that. The hubby agreed to come along. He thought it might be interesting.

And it was. Chad Lewis gave a very brief overview off Gangster Places and the history of them in Wisconsin. He covered Capone, Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and even the Barker-Karpis gang. We learned about bank robbings, getaways, the Valentine Day Massacre (which technically was in Chicago but you needed to know the background before diving into the good stuff), and hideouts.

The gangsters of Chicago loved coming to Wisconsin since prohibition was only a suggestion and it was much cooler in the Northwoods than in Chicago in the summer. They would spend lavishly and if need be kill anyone that was in their way. Chad talked about the places they liked to visit or maybe stopped at because of a car that broke down. He only covered the tip of the gangster iceberg in the 45 minutes he spoke. 

The hubby and I found it fascinating all the places that have a gangster tie and not just Capone's Hide-Out near Corduroy or Little Bohemia. It might be a bank they robbed in Racine or a little corner bar where they stopped for a cold one. What really surprised us is that the some of the current owners could have cared less than a gangster stopped at their bar, store, bank, etc bank in the 1920s. Soon all the remnants of this era will be gone and it won't be nothing more than blurb in a history book, a couple of shelves of library books, and a handful of movies. 

One day I'll like to take a Gangster Road trip and see the spot of Capone's Hideout (it's no longer on public property) and have a drink at Little Bohemia. Chad Lewis has a great book about places that have seen Gangsters in the past. It would be a good travel guide. 

Now I will just sit back and wait for the next library program.. maybe about monsters in Wisconsin or Neenah's community band. And maybe one day the libraries will start recording these events so in case of schedule conflicts (hello, too many good events on the same night), I will still get to learn about whatever I wanted to go see and couldn't. You should go check out the library.. maybe you'll find something interesting to attend.